Feldman to speak at CDes commencement

The new director of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts will address the class of 2008

The second College of Design commencement takes place May 17 at 3 p.m. in Northrop Auditorium. Last year 250 undergraduate and graduate/professional students participated, and a similar number are expected this year. Kaywin Feldman, the new director of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, will be our commencement speaker, and University President Robert Bruininks will be attending. Feldman's husband, Jim Lutz, is a professor of architecture at the University of Memphis.

Emerging no longer

New CDes identity in the works

The College of Design has been working since February with Minneapolis design firm Spunk Design Machine to create a new visual identity for the college. When complete this summer, the identity will convey that the college attracts curious minds who want to make a difference in the world and that our education provides knowledge crucial to solving society's needs while helping students find and amplify their own design voices.

Jeff Johnson, president and creative director of Spunk, employs seven energetic young designers, including Steve Marth (BS Graphic Design, '04).

By next fall, you will see a completely new look for the college's Web pages and publications. Even the name of this publication will change! Have an idea for a new name? Please send it to cdescomm@umn.edu.

Abandon Your Threads

40th annual senior fashion show

The College of Design's apparel design department presented the 40th annual senior fashion show on February 2 at the McNamara Alumni Center. This year's show, entitled "Abandon Your Threads," showcased a fully conceptualized line by each of the 17 individuals graduating from the clothing design program. A standing exhibition of work from the sophomore and junior classes was featured as well. A wide variety of design was showcased, including wedding gowns, post-apocalyptic men's wear, and -- one of fashion's biggest buzz words -- sustainable clothing.

Sacred Sites

A symposium on architecture, ethics, and spiritual geography

The School of Architecture hosted "Sacred Sites | Sacred Sights," the first international symposium on architecture, ethics, and spiritual geography. The symposium and exhibition, which took place April 4-6, 2008, examined the role of the sacred as place and perception. Ozayr Saloojee (Arch) and Virajita Singh (CSBR) served as the symposium's co-organizers.

(ed. note: Richard Kroeker (Dalhousie University, Canada) was also a symposium co-organizer. CDes MEMO regrets the omission.)

Conspicuous collection

What -- and how much -- do you consume in an entire month? Students in Daniel Jasper's (Graphic Design) senior seminar and capstone experience found out by keeping a record of their consumption habits. The patterns of the records revealed something important about the way the students live, the way they consume, and what this said about them individually.

The students analyzed their patterns and encapsulated this in a physical form that could be communicated. The result was an exhibition in McNeal Hall entitled "Conspicuous Collection."